Snubbed railway truck



Oct. 24, 1961 G. F. coUcH 3,005,418

SNUBBED RAILWAY TRUCK Filed Jan. 22, 1959 E I' i FIG. l

'M u y Glenn F Couch his Aorney FIG. 2

United States Patent C) 3,005,418 SNUBBED RAILWAY TRUCK Glenn F. Couch,Bergen, N.Y., assignor to Symington Wayne Corporation, Salisbury, Md., acorporation of Maryland Filed Jan. 22, 1959, Ser. No. 788,306 6 Claims.(Cl. 10S- 197) This invention relates to snubbed railway trucks and hasfor its primary object the provision of an improved assembly for such atruck having inbuilt snubbing means for snubbing oscillation ofsupporting coil springs.

-Another object of the invention is to provide an improved assemblywherein wedge means, pocketed in one of `a pair of coil spring supportedand supporting members are spring-urged both horizontally and verticallyinto engagement with angularly related friction surfaces carried by themembers, thereby snubbing oscillations of the supporting springs, whilepreventing chucking of the wedge means relative to the member in whichthey are pocketed on relative vertical movement of the members.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an assembly whereina wedge, carried by one of a pair of coil spring supported andsupporting members, spring-urged, horizontally against one member andvertically against the other, by the engagement of an oblique wedgingface on the wedge and a correspondingly oblique wedging surface on themember carrying the wedge, the wedging face and surface being inclinedrelative to friction surfaces on both members against which the wedge isurged, as well as relative to the wedge spring.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bolster assemblyhaving bolster-carried wedges spring-urged horizontally and verticallyagainst the side frame and bolster, wherein the extent of retraction ofthe wedges into the bolster is limited to protect the wedge springs andthe wedges .and readily lockable in retracted position for assembly anddisassembly of the bolster and side frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bolster assembly havinga wedge at each side at either end, wherein the wedges not only arewedged both horizontally and vertically under force of 'associated wedgesprings but are identical and interchangeable.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter inthe detailed description, be particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a fragmentary horizontal sectional View on an enlargedscale, taken along the lines 1-1 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 2 is a vfragmentary view, partly in elevation and partly invertical section, taken along the lines 2 2 of FIGURE l, of a railwaytruck embodying a preferred form of the bolster assembly of the presentinvention; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the lines3-3 of FIGURE l.

Referring now in detail to the Adrawings in which like I referencecharacters designate like parts, the improved assembly of the presentinvention, designated as 1, is adapted for either of a pair of coilspring supported and supporting members for snubbing oscillations of thesupporting coil springs. As exemplary of the invention, the assembly hasbeen illustrated as a bolster assembly 1 connected 'at either end -to aside `frame 2 and having its bolster 3 supported thereon, in a bolsteropening 4 by suitable supporting coil springs, indicateddiagr-ammatically at 5. Since the bolster assembly 1 is the same at bothends only one end portion and the related part of the side frame 2connected thereto are required for understanding of the invention andthe illustration has been so limited.

Typical of those to which the illustrated bolster as- Patented Oct. 24,1961 ICC sembly 1 is applicable, the nde frame 2 has its bolster opening4 enlarged, as at 6, to pass the bolster 3 during assembly .anddisassembly and is bounded at the sides over the portion in which .thebolster normally rides, by transversely spaced, upstanding guide columns7, each carrying or having formed on it one of a pair of correspondinglyspaced friction surfaces 8. Preferably vertically directed andsubstantially parallel, the friction surfaces 8 will usually be fromed,as here, ou wear plates 9 xed or secured to the guide columns 7.

. Limited ininboard and outboard movement relative to the yside frame 2,conventionallyl by a pair of longitudinally spaced inboard and outboardguide lugs 10 outstanding from each of its sides 11 and embracing orstraddling the adjoining or related guide columns 7, the bolster 3 ofthe bolster assembly 1 has in each side a pocket or recess 12confronting and opening between the related pair of guide lugs towardsthe friction surface 8 of the adjoining guide column 7. Seated in eachof these pockets 12 are wedge or friction shoe means, preferably in theform of Ia single wedge-shaped wedge or friction shoe 13 having an outerside wall 14 on which is formed or carried a substantially verticallydirected friction face 15 disposed longitudinally of the bolster 3 andconfronting and frictionally engageable with the correspondinglydirected and disposed friction surface. 8 of the adjoining guide column.Desirably, the outerside wall 14 of each wedge 13V is of greatervertical extent than the pocket 12 in which the wedge seats and bothvertically overlaps and is normally spaced outwardly from the lateraledges =16 of the top and bottom walls 17 and 18, respectively, of thebolster 3 so as to enable these edges to act as stops to limit theextent to which the wedge can retract or be compressed into its pocket.

In addition to its outer friction face 15, each of the wedges 13 haseither a top or upper or a bottom or lower friction face 19 disposed atan angle or angularly related to the rst friction face and preferablysubstantially at right angles or normal thereto so as to be horizontallydi rected or disposed. Each of these substantially horizontally directedfriction faces 19 in turn confronts and is adapted to frictionallyengagea correspondingly, preferably horizontally directed frictionsurface 20 in and defining, appropriately, the top or upper or thebottom or lower extremity of the pocket 12 seating the wedge. There alsois provided onv an inner side of each wedge a wedging face 2.1 which isoblique or doubly inclined and, specifically, -is inclined or slopedoutwardly of the associated pocket toward its vertically directed outerfriction face 15 and at an acute angle to its horizontally directed,upper or lower friction face 19. Converging or tapering either inboardlyor, as here, outboardly toward the outer Ifriction face 15, the wedgingface 21 of each wedge 13 confronts and engages a correspondinglyinclined or sloped, oblique wedging surface 22 which includes with thefriction surface 20 in the same pocket an acute angle and convenientlymay merge outwardly with and is inclined or sloped inwardly of thebolster away `from the colurnnengaging face 23 of the outboard orinboard guide lug 10 appropriate -for the particular wedge, ,within thebolster, terminates intermediate the longitudinal confines of theassociated pair of guide lugs.

For wedging the Wedging face 21 of each wedge 13 on or against thewedging surface 22 in the associated pocket l12 there is providedresilient or yieldable means, preferably in the form of a double coilspring 24 acting between and seating at its opposite ends againstconfronting or opposed spring seats, one, 25, formed, to conserve space,

and thus, with the wedging face 21 and wedging surface 22, substantiallyhorizontally extending the wedge spring 24 perforce is inclined orangularly related to both the wedging face and the wedging surface,therethrough to exert a wedging action on the wedge, but may lbedirected either parallel or, as in the illustrated embodiment, at anangle to the longitudinal center line of the bolster. The choice in thedirection of the Wedge spring 24 depends on the force desired to beexerted between the vertically directed friction face on the wedge 13and the friction surface 8 on the adjoining guide column 7, asdetermined by the horizontal inclination of the wedging surface 22 inthe pocket 12 relative to the vertically directed surface carried bytheguide column and the strength of the spring and its inclination relativeto the wedging surface 22. l

In the preferred form of the bolster assembly 1, the inner or inner sidewall 27 of each pocket 12 is interrupted and divided into two portions,one 28 carrying the wedging surface 22 and the other 29 closing theinner side of the socket 30 within the pocket in which the spring 24 ispartly contained, these portions being separated or spaced by anintervening or intermediate slot 31 opening from the pocket transverselyinto the bolster 3. Projecting through :this slot 31 into inwardlyoverlapping or interlocking relation with the socket-defining portion 29of the inner wall 27 of the pocket is an inner end portion or tail 32 ofthe wedge formed `by an inner extension or projection of its inner sidewall 33 on which is carried or formed its wedging face 21. .This overlapor interlock between the inner end por-tion 32 of the wedge and theinner wall 27 of its pocket 12, which obtains when the bolster assembly1 is in assembled position between the guide columns 7, is readilymaintainable during assembly and disassembly of the bolster 3 and sideframe 2 by providing horizontally directed apertures 34 and 34a in theinner walls 27 and 33 of the wedge 13 and pocket 12, respectively, whichwill register or align on compression of the associated wedge spring 24for receiving a temporary assembly or retainer pin (not shown), thusensuring that each wedge will remain in its pocket when, either prior toinstallation or on subsequent removal, the bolster assembly isdisengaged from the side frame 2. With the l preferred bolster 3open-ended, the alignable apertures 34 and 34a are readily accessiblefor insertion and removal of the temporary retainer pins particularlyif, as in the disclosed embodiment, the wedge springs 24 act outboardlyon the wedges 13 so that the wedging surface carrying portion 28 ofthe'inner wall 27 of each pocket is disposed toward the outboard side ofthe pocket and adjacent the outboard end 35 of the bolster.

Not only may the wedge springs 24 at either end of the bolster 3 act onthe associated wedges in the same inboard or outboard direction but, ifdesired, one may act inboardly and the other outboardly. Also, thearrangement at either end of the bolster assembly 1 may be symmetricalabout the longitudinal center line of the bolster 3, with the pockets 12and wedges 13 at that end counterpart. However, the illustratednonsymmetrical arrangement is preferred, in which the pockets and wedgesare identical but relatively inverted and the wedging surfaces 22 in theVpockets at each end diverge relatively toward one or the other end ofthe bolster and at the same angle to the bolsters longitudinal centerline. This construction has the advantages that the cores used for thepockets in casting the bolster are identical and the wedges, sinceidentical, are interchangeable. In any of these alternatives, it ispreferred that the wedging face 21 and top or bottom friction face 19 oneach wedge 13 be crowned so as to permit limited rocking between thesefaces and the top or bottom friction surface 20 and wedging face 21 inthe associated pocket, so as to maintain surface contact Vbetween thevertically directed friction face 15 of the wedge and the column-carriedfriction surface 8 which it confronts, despite limited angling inservice of the bolster 3 relative to the side frame 2.

Whether the bolster assembly 1 is constructed in accordance with one oranother of the several alternatives, the double inclination of thewedging surface 22 in each pocket 12 enables the wedge spring 24 in thatpocket to wedge the associated wedge 13 not only outwardly,horizontally, against the adjoining column-carried friction surface 8,but vertically or upwardly or downwardly, depending on the particularpocket, against the substantially horizontal friction surface 2G in thatpocket. Consequently, the wedges are enabled to frictionally resist andthus dampen the oscillations of the supporting springs 24 and at thesame time are held against chucking in one or the other of the verticalextremities of their pockets during vertical movement of the bolsterrelative to the side frame. At the same time, the force of each wedgespring 24 which urges its wedge 13 outwardly, transversely of thebolster, against the related guide column 7, also renders the truck,bolster and side frame self-squaring by resisting retraction of thewedges into the bolster under forces tending to angle the bolsterrelative to the side frame.

From the above detailed description, it will be apparent that there hasbeen provided an improved bolster assembly having inbuilt snubbing meanswhich effectively dampen oscillations of the supporting springs, renderthe truck of which 'the assembly is a part self-squaring and arethemselves held against chucking on relative vertical movement betweenthe bolster and side frame. It should be understood that the describedand disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention and that-all modifications are intended to be included which do not depart fromeither the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having `described my invention, I claim:

l. In a snubbed railway truck having a side frame carrying supportingcoil springs and on a guide column thereof a vertically directedfriction surface, a bolster assembly comprising a bolster supported onsaid springs and having a pocket in a side thereof opening toward saidfriction surface, a horizontally directed friction surface defining avertical extremity of said pocket, an oblique wedging surface in saidpocket and inclined outwardly thereof toward said vertically directedfriction surface and at an acute angle to said horizontally directedfriction surface, a slot in an inner wall of said pocket inwardly ofsaid wedging surface, wedge means in said pocket and having verticallyand horizontally directed friction faces frictionally engageablerespectively with said vertically and horizontally directed frictionsurfaces, an oblique wedging face on said wedge means inclined incorrespondence with and engaging said wedging surface, means on saidwedge means normally projecting through said slot and overlapping saidinner wall rearwardly thereof, and spring means in said pocket andinclined relative to said wedging and vertical friction surfaces, saidspring means acting on said wedge means and through said wedging faceand surface for urging said friction faces and surfaces into frictionalengagement.

2. In a snubbed railway truck having a side frame carrying supportingcoil springs and on a guide column vthereof a vertically directedfriction surface, a bolster assembly comprising a bolster support-ted onsaid springs and having a pocket in a side thereof opening toward saidfriction surface, a horizontally directed friction surface defining avertical extremity of said pocket, an oblique wedging surface in saidpocket and inclined outwardly thereof toward said vertically `directedfriction surface and at an acute angle to said horizontally directedfriction surface, a wedge in said pocket and having vertically andhorizontally `directed friction faces frictionally engageablerespectively with said vertically and horizontally directed frictionsurfaces, an oblique wedging face on said wedge inclined incorrespondence with and engaging said wedging surface, spring means in-said pocket and acting on said wedge and through said wedging face andsurface for urging said friction faces and surfaces into frictionalengagement, a slot in an inner wall of said pocket and opening into saidbolster, means on said wedge normally extending through said slot andinwardly overlapping an adjoining portion of said inner wall, andapertures in said inner wall and a confronting wall of said wedge, saidapertures being alignable on retraction of said wedge into said pocketfor receiving a retaining pin and cooperating with said overlap forholding said wedge in retracted position in said pocket during assemblyand disassembly of said bolster and side frame.

3. In a snubbed railway truck having a side frame carrying supportingcoil springs and on a guide column thereof a vertically directedfriction surface, a bolster assembly comprising an open-ended bolstersupported on said springs and having a pocket in a side thereof openingtoward said friction surface, a horizontally directed friction surfacedefining a vertical extremity of said pocket, an oblique wedging surfacein said pocket and inclined outwardly thereof toward said verticallydirected friction surface and at an acute angle to said horizontallydirected friction surface, a wedge in said pocket and having verticallyand horizontally directed friction faces frictionally engageablerespectively with said vertically and horizontally directed frictionsurfaces, an oblique wedging face on said wedge inclined incorrespondence with and engaging -said wedging surface, spring means insaid pocket and acting on said wedge and through said Wedging face andsurface for urging said wedge outwardly and vertically of said pocketand said friction faces and surfaces into frictional engagement, stopmeans on said wedge and engageable with said bolster for limiting inwardmovement of said wedge relative to said pocket against the force of saidspring means, means normally interlocking said wedge and bolster, andhorizontally directed alignable apertures in said wedge and bolster andaccessible through an open end of said bolster for receiving a retainingpin and cooperating with said interlocking means to lock said wedge inretracted position during assembly and disassembly of said bolster andside frame.

4. In a snubbed railway truck having a side frame carrying supportingcoil springs and on a guide column thereof a vertically directedfriction surface, a bolster assembly comprising a bolster supported onsaid springs and having a pocket in a side thereof opening toward saidfriction surface, a horizontally directed friction surface defining avertical extremity of said pocket, an oblique wedging surface in saidpocket and inclined outwardly thereof toward said vertically directedfriction surface and at an acute angle to said horizontally directedfriction surface, a wedge in said pocket and having vertically andhorizontally directed friction faces frictionally engageablerespectively with said vertically and horizontally directed frictionsurfaces, an oblique wedging face on said wedge inclined incorrespondence with and engaging said wedging surface, spring means insaid pocket and projecting into and acting on said wedge and throughsaid wedging face and surface for urging said wedge outwardly andvertically of said pocket and said friction faces and surfaces intofrictional engagement, and means carried by said wedge and engageablewith means on said bolster for limiting movement of said wedge into saidpocket along said wedging surface against the force of said springmeans.

5. In a snubbed railway truck having a side frame carrying supportingcoil springs and on a guide column thereof a vertically directedfriction surface, a bolster assembly comprising a bolster supported onsaid springs and having a pocket in a side thereof opening toward saidfriction surface, a horizontally directed friction surface defining avertical extremity of said pocket, an oblique wedging surface in saidpocket and inclined outwardly thereof toward said vertically directedfriction surface and at an acute angle to said horizontally directedfriction surface, a wedge in said pocket and having vertically andhorizontally directed friction faces frictionally engageablerespectively with said vertically and horizontally directed frictionsurfaces, an oblique wedging face on said wedge inclined incorrespondence with and engaging said Wed-ging surface, spring means insaid pocket and inclined relative to said wedging and verticallydirected surfaces, saidspring means acting on said wedge and throughsaid wedging face and surface for urging said wedge outwardly andvertically of said pocket and said friction faces and surfaces intofrictional engagement, and means carried by said wedge and engageablewith means on said bolster adjacent said pocket for limiting movement ofsaid wedge into said pocket along said wedging surface against the forceof said spring means.

6. In a snubbed railway truck having a side frame carrying supportingcoil springs and on guide columns thereof vertically directed frictionsurfaces at sides of a bolster opening therein, a bolster assemblycomprising a bolster supported on said springs and having pockets inopposite sides thereof each opening toward one of said frictionsurfaces, a horizontally directed friction surface in each of saidpockets, an oblique wedging sulface in each pocket, said wedgingsurfaces diverging relatively toward an end of said bolster and eachincluding with fthe horizontally directed surface in its pocket an acuteangle, identical wedge means each in one of said pockets and each havinghorizontally and vertically directed friction faces each frictionallyengageable with the adjoining correspondingly directed friction surfaceand an oblique wedging face inclined in correspondence and engaging theadjoining wedging surface, spring means in each of said pockets andprojecting into and acting on said Wedge means therein through therelated wedging face and surface, said spring means together urging saidwedge means vertically and outwardly of said pockets and said frictionfaces and surfaces into frictional engagement, and means on each of saidwedge means overlapping and engageable with a side of said bolsteradjacent its pocket for limiting movement of said wedge means into saidpocket along the wedging surface engaged thereby.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,650,550 Pierce Sept. 1, `1953 2,688,938 Kowalik Sept. 14, 19542,723,630 Settles Nov. 15, 1955

